Vacuum cleaner filter bag comprising dust- and/or fiber-like recycled material

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a vacuum cleaner filter bag, comprising a wall enclosing an interior and made of an air-permeable material and an inlet opening introduced into the wall, characterized in that the air-permeable material comprises at least one layer of a nonwoven fabric which comprises powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from the production of textiles, in particular cotton textiles, and/or from wool shearing and/or seed fibers.

The present invention relates to vacuum cleaner filter bags made of waste products from the textile industry. In addition, possible uses of waste products from the textile industry for vacuum cleaner filter bags are specified.

Filter bags made of nonwoven fabrics have virtually completely replaced paper filter bags in the last 10 years due to their significantly better performance characteristics. In particular, the separation efficiency, clogging tendency and mechanical strength were continuously improved. The nonwoven fabrics used for this are usually made of thermoplastics, in particular polypropylene (PP) and/or polyester (PET).

Even though there is still a need for improving these characteristics, it is nevertheless noticeable that the high costs of complex filter embodiments are becoming less and less accepted by the end customer.

Moreover, the use of high-quality and heavy nonwoven fabrics for a disposable product is becoming increasingly critical for ecological reasons.

Biodegradable filter bags as proposed in EP 2 301 404 and WO 2011/047764 also seems not to be a promising approach for improving ecological properties, as filter bags are often disposed of via waste incineration, and composting is out of the question simply because of the primarily non-biodegradable absorbent material.

Nonwoven fabric filter bags for vacuum cleaners today always consist of several layers (EP 1 198 280, EP 2 433 695, EP 1 254 693). Support layers are used to achieve the necessary mechanical strength, coarse filter layers that have a high storage capacity for dust without overly increasing air resistance, and the fine filter layers for particle filtration <1 μm.

To increase dust storage capacity, diffusers and partitions have also been used in filter bags for some years to optimize flow conditions in the filter bag, thereby increasing the service life.

To manufacture these different materials, the most diverse technologies are used.

Meltblown microfiber nonwoven fabrics are usually used as the fine filter layer. These meltblown nonwoven fabrics are extrusion nonwoven fabrics, mostly made of polypropylene and have filament diameters ranging from less than 1 μm to a few μm. In order to achieve high separation efficiency, these materials are electrostatically charged (e.g. by means of corona discharge). To further improve the separation efficiency, it was propoposed to apply nanofibers produced in the electrospinning process to nonwoven fabric substrate materials (DE 199 19 809).

Staple fiber nonwoven fabrics, extrusion nonwoven fabrics [and] also nonwoven fabrics (EP 1 795 247) made of staple fibers or filaments are used for the capacity level. Polypropylene or polyester, [and] also fluff pulp (EP 0 960 645, EP 1 198 280) are usually used as materials for the capacity layers.

The use of recycled plastics (e.g. recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET)) for fabrics was proposed in WO 2013/106392.

The use of rPET as a raw material for meltblown nonwoven fabrics was already investigated (Handbook of Nonwovens, Woodhead Publishing Ltd., edited by S. J. Russell, chapter 4.10.1).

CN101747596 describes the use of recycled PET or recycled PBT (rPET/rPBT) as material for microfilaments.

On this basis, it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide vacuum cleaner filter bags, which are in no way inferior to the vacuum cleaner filter bags on the market in terms of dust separation efficiency and service life, and thus have excellent performance characteristics, but consist mainly of recycled materials or waste materials. In particular, it is therefore the object of the present invention to realize vacuum cleaner filter bags that are particularly advantageous ecologically and economically. Preferably, it is intended to realize a percentage of at least 40% of recycled materials in the filter bag.

The object is solved by the vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1. The dependent claims describe advantageous embodiments. With claim 17, the use of a specific nonwoven fabric for vacuum cleaner filter bags is protected.

The present invention therefore relates to a vacuum cleaner filter bag, which comprises a wall of an air-permeable material enclosing an interior. An inlet opening is provided in the air-permeable material. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to the invention is characterized in that the air-permeable material comprises at least one layer of a nonwoven fabric which comprises powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles, and/or from wool shearing and/or seed fibers.

The powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing is important, in particular for processing textile materials (in particular textile fibers and filaments, as well as linear, flat and three-dimensional textile structures produced therewith), such as the manufacturing (comprising carding, spinning, cutting and drying) or the recycling of textile materials. These powdery and/or fibrous materials are waste materials that can settle on the machines or filter materials used to process the textiles. The powders (or powdery particles) and fibers are normally disposed of and thermally recycled.

The powdery and/or fibrous recycled material is, for example, manufacturing waste; this applies in particular to material obtained as a waste product in the process of carding, spinning, cutting or drying textile materials. This is referred to as “pre-consumer waste”.

The recycling of textile materials, i.e. the processing (e.g. shredding) of used textile materials or textiles (e.g. old clothes), also yields powdery and/or fibrous recycled material; this is referred to as “post-consumer waste”.

Thus, the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing comprises in particular fibers obtained from waste materials from the textile and clothing industry, from post-consumer waste (textiles and the like) and from products collected for recycling.

Sheep shearing for wool manufacturing generates short wool fibers as a waste product, which represents a further variant of a powdery and/or fibrous recycled material.

The powdery and/or fibrous recycled material can be cotton dust. The seed fibers can be cotton linters or kapok fibers.

Cotton linters are short cotton fibers that stick to the cotton seed core after the long seed hair (cotton) has been removed from the core. Cotton linters, [which] are very different in fiber length (typically 1 to 6 mm) and purity, cannot be spun. In the textile industry, they usually represent a non-recyclable residue and thus a waste product. One can distinguish between First Cut (FC-Linters), Second Cut (SC-Linters) and Mill Run. Linters can be cleaned and bleached to obtain Cotton Linters Cellulose (CLC). Cotton linters can also be used for nonwoven fabrics utilizable in air-permeable materials for the inventive vacuum cleaner filter bags. In particular, uncleaned and unbleached FC and/or SC linters can be used.

In the nonwoven fabric layer, which is contained in the air-permeable material, the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material or the seed fibers (in particular cotton linters) are bonded. In this respect, the nonwoven fabric material has undergone a bonding step. Bonding the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or the seed fibers is preferably achieved by adding bonding fibers to the nonwoven fabric layer, which can be, for example, thermally activated (thermofusion).

A corresponding nonwoven fabric layer can thus be produced, for example, depositing the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or the seed fibers together with the bonding fibers in an aerodynamic process and subsequently bonding them to the finished nonwoven fabric by thermal activation of the bonding fibers.

Aerodynamic processes are dry processes, as described and defined in Section 4.1.3 of the Manual Vliesstoffe (English: “Nonwoven Fabrics”) by H. Fuchs and W. Albrecht, Wiley-VCH, 2nd edition 2012. This section is included here for reference. The deposit of the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or the seed fibers together with the bonding fibers can be carried out, in particular by means of the airlay or airlaid process. The airlay nonwoven fabric can be made, for example, using a Rando Webber.

In a preferred embodiment, the layer of nonwoven fabric is provided comprising at least one powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or cotton linters comprising or consisting of up to 95 wt. %, preferably 70 to 90 wt. % of the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or cotton linters and at least 5 wt. %, preferably 10 to 50 wt. %, of bonding fibers, in particular bicomponent fibers.

The bonding fibers can, for example, be so-called “fusing fibers”, which are made of thermoplastic, fusible materials. These fusing fibers melt during thermal activation and bind the powdery and/or fibrous recycled material or seed fibers.

Another advantage here is that the bicomponent fibers preferably used as bonding fibers consist of a core consisting of a first thermoplastic material and a sheath consisting of a second thermoplastic material which melts at lower temperatures than the first thermoplastic material, with the core or both the core and the sheath preferably consisting of a recycled plastic or several recycled plastics. The core can be made of, for example, recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) or recycled polypropylene (rPP). The sheath can be made of a pure/fresh (virgin) plastic, for example pure PP (“virgin PP”, i.e. not recycled) or polymethylpentene (PMP). In addition to the core/sheath bi-component fibers, the other common variants of bi-component fibers (e.g. side by side) can also be considered.

The fusing fibers or bicomponent fibers preferably used as bonding fibers can consist partly or completely of recycled plastics, such as rPET or rPP. The bonding fibers can be crimped or smooth. The crimped bonding fibers can be mechanically crimped or self-crimping (e.g. in the form of bicomponent fibers with an eccentric cross-section).

In a preferred embodiment, the bonding fibers are staple fibers, in particular with a length of 1 to 100 mm, preferably 2 to 40 mm. The fiber length can be determined according to DIN 53808-1:2003-01.

For the purposes of the present invention, for example, a nonwoven fabric, as described in WO 2011/057641 A1, can be used. All embodiments of the present patent application are adopted for the purposes of the present invention. The disclosure of this document will therefore also be the subject matter of the present application.

In a further preferred embodiment, the air-permeable material is constructed in several layers, the air-permeable material having, in addition to the at least one layer of nonwoven fabric which comprises powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or seed fibers, at least one further layer which comprises or is made of a nonwoven fabric and/or a fiber web, wherein in particular at least one, several or all of the additional layers comprise one or several recycled plastics or are made thereof.

The term “recycled plastic”, which is used for the purposes of the present invention, is to be understood as being synonymous with plastic recyclates. For the conceptual definition, reference is made to the standard DIN EN 15347:2007.

At least one of these layers is thus preferably a nonwoven fabric or a fiber web that comprises recycled plastics and made of in particular recycled plastics. In contrast to the vacuum cleaner filter bags known from the state of the art, little or no fresh (virgin) plastic material is used to produce the wall of the vacuum cleaner filter bag's underlying nonwoven fabrics or fiber webs. Instead, plastics are predominantly or exclusively used, which have already been in use and have been recovered by appropriate recycling processes. Such filter bags are clearly advantageous from an ecological point of view, as they can be produced in a highly raw material-neutral manner. These filter bags also offer economic advantages, as most recycled plastic materials can be purchased at significantly lower prices than the corresponding raw materials that are not recycled (“virgin” plastics).

For the purposes of the present invention, a nonwoven fabric is a randomly laid web structure that has undergone a bonding step, whereby it has sufficient strength, for example, to be wound or unwound into rolls by machine (i.e. on an industrial scale). The minimum web tension required for winding is 0.25 PLI or 0.044 N/mm. The web tension should not exceed 10% to 25% of the minimum maximum tensile force (according to DIN EN 29073-3:1992-08) of the material to be wound. This results in a minimum maximum tensile force for a wound material of 8.8 N per 5 cm strip width.

A fiber web corresponds to a randomly laid web structure, which, however, has not undergone any solidification step, such that unlike a nonwoven fabric, such a randomly laid web structure does not have sufficient strength, for example, to be wound or unwound into rolls by machine. With regard to the definition of this terminology, reference is made to EP 1 795 427 A1, the disclosure of which is also the subject matter of the present patent application.

According to a preferred embodiment, the fibers of the nonwoven fabric or the fiber web contained in the air-permeable material of the wall of the vacuum cleaner filter bag, according to the invention, are made of a single recycled plastic material.

Alternatively, however, it is also preferred if the fibers of the nonwoven fabric or the fiber web are made of different materials, at least one of which is a recycled plastic. Two types in particular are conceivable here:

On the one hand, it can be a mixture of at least two fiber types, for example, fiber mixtures made of at least two different recycled plastics.

On the other hand, it is also possible that the fiber web or the nonwoven fabric contains or is made of bicomponent fibers (BiCo-fibers), which consists of a core and a sheath enclosing the core. The core and mantle are made of different materials. The bicomponent fibers can be in the form of staple fibers or as extrusion nonwoven fabrics (e.g. made of meltblown nonwoven fabrics), wherein the bicomponent fibers theoretically exhibit an infinite length and constitute so-called filaments. With such bicomponent fibers, it is advantageous if at least the core is made of a recycled plastic; for the sheath, for example, a virgin plastic, but alternatively another recycled plastic can also be used.

For the nonwoven fabrics or fiber webs for the purposes of the present invention, it is possible that these are dry-laid, wet-laid or extrusion nonwoven fabrics or extrusion fiber webs. As a result, the fibers of nonwoven fabrics or fiber webs can exhibit finite length (staple fibers), or theoretically infinite length (filaments).

The invention provides in particular a vacuum cleaner filter bag with a wall of air-permeable material, wherein the material comprises a capacity layer and a fine filter layer, wherein the capacity layer is a nonwoven fabric obtained by means of an aerodynamic process comprising powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles, and/or from wool shearing and/or seed fibers, and wherein the fine filter layer is a meltblown nonwoven fabric of virgin PP, in particular electrostatically charged, or a meltblown nonwoven fabric of bicomponent fibers having an rPET or rPP core and a sheath of virgin PP or virgin PMP, or a support layer of recycled plastic fibers having a layer of nanofibers applied thereto.

Therefore, the capacity layer can correspond to the nonwoven fabric layer already described above. In particular, the nonwoven fabric of the capacity layer can be strengthened by thermally activated bonding fibers, for example bicomponent fibers. In particular, the nonwoven fabric of the capacity layer can be strengthened by thermally activated bonding fibers, for example bicomponent fibers. The capacity layer may consist of powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or seed fibers, on the one hand, and thermally activated bonding fibers (e.g. comprising a core and/or sheath of recycled plastic as described above), on the other hand; in this case, the capacity layer does not contain any further fibers or bonding agents.

The term “nanofiber” is used according to the terminology of DIN SPEC 1121:2010-02 (CEN ISO/TS 27687:2009).

The fine filter layer can be arranged in the direction of air flow (from the dirty air side to the clean air side) behind the capacity layer.

Optionally, the vacuum cleaner filter bag can have a(n) (additional) reinforcement layer or support layer in the form of a dried nonwoven fabric layer or in the form of an extrusion nonwoven fabric layer. The dried nonwoven fabric layer may comprise—as described above—powdery or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles, and/or from wool shearing and/or seed fibers; alternatively the dried nonwoven fabric layer may comprise staple fibers of recycled plastic, in particular rPET or rPP. The extrusion nonwoven fabric layer can comprise monocomponent or bicomponent filaments of recycled plastic, in particular rPET or rPP.

The reinforcement layer can be located behind the fine filter layer in the direction of air flow.

Altogether, the construction of the wall of the filter bag can be designed according to the present invention, as described in EP 1 795 247. Thus, such a wall comprises at least three layers, wherein at least two layers consist of at least one nonwoven fabric layer and at least one fiber web layer containing staple fibers and/or filaments. The wall of the vacuum cleaner filter bag is therefore additionally characterized by a welded joint, wherein all layers of the filter material are joined together by welded joints. The pressing area of the welding pattern is a maximum of 5% of the surface of the flowable area of the filter material or vacuum cleaner filter bag. Concerning the total flowable area of the filter bag, there are on average a maximum of 19 welded joints per 10 cm².

For example, the air-permeable material can be designed as described in the introductory part of the present patent application, e.g. as described in EP 1 198 280, EP 2 433 695, EP 1 254 693, DE 199 19 809, EP 1 795 247, WO 2013/106 392 or CN 101747596, as long as powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing and/or from wool shearing and/or seed fibers was used for the production of these filter materials. With regard to the detailed structure of these filter materials, reference is made to the disclosures of these publications, which in this respect, must also be included in the disclosure of the present invention.

The present invention covers several particularly preferred possibilities for the multi-layer embodiment of the air-permeable material, which are presented below. The majority of these layers can be welded together, in particular as described in EP 1 795 427 A1. The layers can also be glued together or bonded as described in WO 01/003802.

With the aforementioned multi-layer structure of the air-permeable material, the following embodiments are particularly advantageous.

According to an embodiment, the air-permeable material has at least one support layer and at least one capacity layer, at least one or all of the support layers being nonwoven fabrics and/or at least one or all of the capacity layers being nonwoven fabrics or fiber webs comprising or made of one recycled plastic or several recycled plastics.

Alternatively, it is also possible for the air-permeable material to have at least one support layer, at least one fine filter layer and at least one capacity layer, wherein at least one or all of the support layers and/or at least one or all of the fine filter layers are nonwoven fabrics comprising or made of one recycled plastic or several recycled plastics, and/or at least one or all of the capacity layers are nonwoven fabrics or fiber webs comprising or made of one recycled plastic or several recycled plastics.

The aforementioned embodiments provides at least one nonwoven fabric, preferably all of the capacity layers, which comprises or is made of powdery and/or fibrous recycled material and/or seed fibers, is characterized in more detail above. Due to the nonwoven fabric bonding, the nonwoven fabric layer, which is designed as a capacity layer, exhibits such a high mechanical strength, such that it can also function as a support layer.

It is also possible to make the outer layer on the clean air side out of a relatively thin material based on cotton dust.

The individual layers are described in more detail according to their function.

A support layer (also sometimes called “reinforcement layer”), in the sense of the present invention, is a layer that gives the multi-layer composite of the filter material the necessary mechanical strength. This is an open, powdery nonwoven fabric or a nonwoven fabric with a light basis weight. A support layer is used, among other things, to support other layers or layers and/or to protect them from abrasion. The support layer can also filter the largest particles. The support layer, like any other layer of filter material, may also be electrostatically charged, provided that the material has suitable dielectric properties.

A capacity layer offers high resistance to shock loads, filtering large dirt particles, filtering a significant proportion of small dust particles, storage or retention of large quantities of particles, allowing the air to flow easily, resulting in a low-pressure drop with high particle loading. This has a particular effect on the service life of a vacuum cleaner filter bag.

A fine filter layer serves to increase the filtration performance of the multi-layer filter material by trapping particles that pass through, for example, the support layer and/or the capacity layer. To further increase the separation efficiency, the fine filter layer can be preferably charged electrostatically (e.g. by corona discharge or hydrocharging) in order to increase in particular the separation of fine dust particles.

WO 01/003802 provides an overview of the individual functional layers within the multi-layer filter materials for vacuum cleaner filter bags. The air-permeable material of the wall of the vacuum cleaner filter bag, according to the invention, can, for example, be constructed as in this patent document provided that at least one of the layers of the multi-layer filter material for the vacuum cleaner filter bag described therein is made of one recycled plastics or several recycled plastics. The disclosure of WO 01/003802 is also included in the present application with regard to the structure of the air-permeable filter materials.

Particular embodiments of the aforementioned aspects of the present invention provide that each support layer is a spunbond nonwoven fabric or scrim, preferably with a grammage of 5 to 80 g/m², further preferably of 10 to 50 g/m², further preferably of 15 to 30 g/m² and/or preferably with a titer of the fibers forming the spunbond nonwoven fabric or scrim in the range of 0.5 dtex to 15 dtex.

The air-permeable material preferably has one to three support layers.

In the case of at least two support layers, it is preferred that the total grammage of the sum of all support layers is 10 to 240 g/m², preferably 15 to 150 g/m², further preferably 20 to g/m², further preferably 30 to 90 g/m², in particular 40 to 70 g/m².

Alternatively or in addition to the aforementioned embodiments, it is also possible that all support layers are made of one recycled plastic or several recycled plastics, in particular rPET and/or rPP.

With the aforementioned fine filter layers, it is advantageous if each fine filter layer is an extruded nonwoven fabric, in particular a meltblown nonwoven fabric, preferably with a grammage of 5 to 100 g/m², preferably 10 to 50 g/m², in particular 10 to 30 g/m².

The air-permeable material for the purpose of the vacuum cleaner filter bag, according to the present invention, can advantageously comprise one to five fine filter layers.

If at least two fine filter layers are present, the total grammage of the sum of all fine filter layers can be 10 to 300 g/m², preferably 15 to 150 g/m², in particular 20 to 50 g/m².

All fine filter layers are preferably made of one recycled plastic or several recycled plastics, in particular rPET and/or rPP.

Particularly preferred fine filter layers are meltblown nonwoven fabrics, which can be made of, in particular rPET. The rPET used can be unmetallized or metallized. Therefore, the rPET can be derived from, for example, bottle flake chips or metallized PET films. It is also possible that the meltblown nonwoven fabrics are bicomponent meltblown nonwoven fabrics. In this respect, it is particularly advantageous if the core of such a bicomponent fiber consists of rPET, whereby this core material is coated with another thermoplastic material, for example, polypropylene.

Alternatively or in addition to the aforementioned embodiments, it is also possible and in particular preferred if at least one, preferably all fine filter layers are electrostatically charged. This requires that at least the surface of the fibers to be charged be made of a dielectric material. In case metallized PET recyclate is used, this embodiment is then only possible with the aforementioned bicomponent fibers, in which the metallized rPET forms the core of the fibers. Electrostatic charging, in particular corona discharge, can be conducted.

In the aforementioned capacity layers, it is particularly advantageous if at least one, preferably each capacity layer is a nonwoven fabric comprising powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles, and/or from wool shearing and/or seed fibers, whereby each capacity layer preferably has a grammage of 5 to 200 g/m², further preferably 10 to 150 g/m², further preferably 20 to 100 g/m², in particular 30 to 50 g/m².

The air-permeable material preferably has one to five capacity layers.

If at least two capacity layers are present, the total grammage of the sum of all capacity layers can be 10 to 300 g/m², preferably 15 to 200 g/m², preferably 20 to 100 g/m², in particular 50 to 90 g/m².

A particularly preferred embodiment includes the following multi-layer variants of the air-permeable material, with a layer sequence seen from the interior of the vacuum cleaner filter bag:

a support layer; at least one, preferably at least two, capacity layers; preferably a further support layer; at least one, preferably at least two, fine filter layers; and a further support layer. If the capacity layer exhibits a high mechanical strength, as described above, the innermost capacity layer can also be dispensed with.

One or two capacity layers, one or two fine filter layers (meltblown layers), a support layer (spunbond fabric or web).

The support layers and/or capacity layers can be made of a nonwoven fabric material, which comprises powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles and/or seed fibers.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the nonwoven fabric material forms the at least one capacity layer, while the other layers comprise no powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles and/or wool shearing and/or seed fibers.

All the layers of the aforementioned embodiments can be joined together by means of welded joints, as described in particular in EP 1 795 427 A1. However, welded joints are not absolutely necessary.

A further advantage is that the vacuum cleaner filter bag features a retaining plate enclosing the inlet opening, which is made of one or several recycled plastics or comprises one or more recycled plastics. In particular, the retaining plate is made of rPET or comprises a very high proportion of rPET, for example at least 90 wt. %. According to this preferred embodiment, it is thus further possible to increase the proportion of recycled plastics in the vacuum cleaner filter bag.

According to a further preferred embodiment, it is provided that at least one flow distributor and/or one diffuser are arranged in the interior, wherein preferably the at least one flow distributor and/or the at least one diffuser is made of a recycled plastic or several recycled plastics or from a nonwoven fabric material which comprises powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles and/or seed fibers. Such flow distributors or diffusers are, e.g. known in patent applications EP 2 263 508, EP 2 442 703, DE 20 2006 020 047, DE 20 2008 003 248, DE 20 2008 005 050.

Also the vacuum cleaner filter bag including the flow distributors according to the invention can also be designed accordingly.

Thus, the flow distributors and diffusers are likewise preferably made of nonwoven fabric or laminates of nonwoven fabrics. For these elements, the same materials, such as for the capacity and reinforcing layers, would preferably be suitable.

The recycled plastic, which can be used in special nonwoven fabric materials or in retaining plates for vacuum cleaner filter bags, is preferably selected from the group consisting of recycled polyesters, in particular recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), recycled polybutylene terephthalate (rPBT), recycled polylactic acid (rPLA), recycled polyglycolide and/or recycled polycaprolactone; recycled polyolefins, in particular recycled polypropylene (rPP), recycled polyethylene and/or recycled polystyrene (rPS); recycled polyvinyl chloride (rPVC), recycled polyamides as well as mixtures and combinations thereof.

Relevant international standards exist for many plastic recyclates. For PET plastic recyclates, DIN EN 15353:2007 is, for example, relevant. PS recyclates are described in more detail in DIN EN 15342:2008. PP Recyclates are characterized in DIN EN 15345:2008. PVC recyclates are specified in more detail in DIN EN 15346:2015. For the purpose of corresponding particular plastic recyclates, the present patent application adopts the definitions of these international standards. The plastic recyclates can thereby be unmetallized. An example of this can be plastic flakes or plastic chips recycled from PET beverage bottles. Likewise the plastic recyclates can be metallized, e.g. if the recyclates are obtained from plastic films, in particular metallized PET films (MPET).

The recycled plastic is, in particular, recycled polyethylene (rPET), which was obtained from beverage bottles, in particular, so-called bottle flakes, i.e. pieces of grounded beverage bottles.

The recycled plastics, in particular the recycled PET, in both metallized and non-metallized forms, can be spun to the corresponding fibers, from which the corresponding staple fibers or meltblown nonwoven fabrics or spunbond fabrics can be made for the purposes of present invention.

A particularly preferred embodiment provides that the total weight of the seed fibers and any recycled materials present relative to the total weight of the vacuum cleaner filter bag is at least 25%, preferably at least 30%, further preferably at least 40%, further preferably at least 50%, further preferably at least 60%, further preferably at least 70%, further preferably at least 80%, further preferably at least 90%, in particular at least 95%. Thus, the requirements of the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), v3 (August 2014) of Textile Exchange can be fulfilled.

The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to the present invention can take the form of a flat bag, a side-gusseted bag, a block bottom bag or a 3D bag, such as a vacuum cleaner filter bag for an upright vacuum cleaner. A flat bag has no sidewalls and is made of two layers of material, whereby the two layers of material are directly connected along their circumference, for instance, welded or glued. Side-gusseted bags represent a modified form of a flat bag and comprise fixed or eversible side gussets. Block bottom bags comprise a so-called block or block bottom, which usually forms the narrow side of the vacuum cleaner filter bag; a retaining plate is usually arranged on this side.

The present invention also provides the use of nonwoven fabrics containing powdery and/or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing, in particular cotton textiles, and/or wool shearing and/or seed fibers, for vacuum cleaner filter bags. With regard to the particular embodiment of such nonwoven fabrics, reference is made to the preceding embodiments.

The present invention will be explained in more detail using the following exemplary embodiments, without restricting the invention to the particular embodiments shown.

Filter bags are designed, which comprise one or several layers of an aerodynamically formed nonwoven fabric, for example, an airlay nonwoven fabric or an airlaid nonwoven fabric. In addition, the filter bags described below may have one or several layers of rPET or rPP filaments or rPET or rPP staple fibers or be made of cotton dust, seed fibers or wool fibers from shearing waste and bicomponent fibers. The different nonwoven fabrics are only suitable for certain material layers. In order to further increase the proportion of recycled raw materials, a retaining plate made of rPET or rPP or at least with rPET or rPP can also be used.

With regard to the individual fine filter layers:

Spunbond nonwoven fabric layers made of rPET or rPP with a basis weight of 5 to 50 g/m² and a titer of 1 dtex to 15 dtex are particularly suitable as support layers. PET waste (e.g. chads or punching waste) and bottle flakes, i.e. pieces of ground beverage bottles, are used as raw materials. In order to overlay the different colors of the waste material, it is possible to color the recycled material. The HELIX® (Comerio Ercole) process is particularly advantageous as a thermal bonding process for solidifying spunbond nonwoven fabric into a spunbond.

One or more meltblown nonwoven fabric layers of rPET or rPP with a basis weight of 5 to 30 g/m² each are used as fine filter layers. In addition, one or more meltblown nonwoven fabric layers of virgin PP can be available. At least this layer/these layers is/are electrostatically charged by a corona discharge. The layers of rPET or rPP can also be electrostatically charged. At the same time, it should be only noted that no metallized PET waste should then be used for production. Alternatively, meltblown filaments can also consist of bicomponent fibers, in which the core is made of rPET or rPP, and the sheath from a plastic, which can be electrostatically charged particularly well (e.g. virgin PP, PC, PET).

One or more capacity layers contain rPET or rPP staple fibers or rPET or rPP filaments or are produced on the basis of cotton dust and bicomponent fibers. Different processes are suitable for producing capacity layers. Usually carding processes, airlay processes or airlaid processes are applied, in which staple fibers are first deposited, which are then usually bonded to a nonwoven fabric material in a nonwoven fabric bonding step (e.g. by needling, hydroentangling, ultrasonic calendering, by means of thermal bonding in the through-flow furnace also using bicomponent fibers or bonding fibers, or by chemical bonding, for example, with latex, hot melt, foam binders, etc.). The HELIX® (Comerio Ercole) process is particularly advantageous for calendering. In particular, a Rando Webber system can be used for an airlay process.

A process is also used in which the primary fiber web is not solidified, but rather bonded to a nonwoven fabric with as few welds as possible. However, this process is not suitable for the variant made of cotton dust. In both processes, it is possible to use staple fibers made of rPET or rPP. Capacity layers can also be produced as extrusion nonwoven fabrics or extrusion fiber webs. For these nonwoven fabrics, rPET or rPP can also be used without any problems.

The filaments or staple fibers can also consist of bicomponent materials, in which the core is made of rPET or rPP, and the sheath is made of a plastic that can be electrostatically charged particularly well (e.g. virgin PP, PC, PET).

Alternatively or additionally, one or more layers of an aerodynamically formed nonwoven fabric can be present, which is made of bicomponent fibers and cotton dust or seed fibers (e.g. cotton linters).

The basis weight of the individual capacity layers lies preferably between 10 and 100 g/m².

The differently produced capacity layer can of course also be combined with each other.

In order to further increase the proportion of recycled material, a retaining plate made of rPET can be used. If the seal to the vacuum cleaner nozzle is taken over by the bag material, the retaining plate can consist exclusively of rPET or rPP. If the retaining plate has to assume the sealing function, a TPE seal can be injection-molded or adhesively bonded.

By making use of all the possibilities, a proportion of recyclates or waste materials of up to 96% is possible. The following tables give some concrete embodiments with a recyclate content of 61% to 89%.

The vacuum cleaner filter bags shown below were designed using the various nonwoven fabrics or fiber webs containing recyclates using the specified materials, the exact composition or structure of which is given in the following tables. The vacuum cleaner filter bags are flat bags of rectangular geometry having the dimension of 300 mm×280 mm.

EXAMPLE 1

Grammage Weight Recyclate [g/m²] per bag [g] content [%] Outer support layers 25 4.2 100 Meltblown 15 2.5 0 Meltblown 15 2.5 0 Middle support layer 17 2.9 100 Capacity layer C 35 5.9 80 Capacity layer D 35 5.9 80 Inner support layer 15 2.5 100 Retaining plate 5.0 0 Total filter bag 31.4 60.5

The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to Example 1 is also made of a 7-layer air-permeable material. A support layer (outer) is arranged on the clean air side, to which two fine filter layers (meltblown made of virgin PP) are attached in the direction of the interior. Both meltblown layers are enclosed by an additional support layer. Attached thereto are two capacity layers C and D, which are finally enclosed by a support layer on the dirty air side (inside). The capacity layers C and D is made of a nonwoven fabric material, 80 wt. % of which is made of cotton dust or seed fibers and 20% of BiCo bonding fibers. This nonwoven fabric material is described in detail in WO 2011/057641 A1. The cotton dust or seed fiber content in the capacity layers is added to the total recyclate content.

With such an embodiment, a proportion of recycled material, i.e. the sum of recycled plastics, as well as cotton dust or seed fibers of 60.5 wt. %, is achieved relative to the entire vacuum cleaner filter bag.

EXAMPLE 2

Grammage Weight Recyclate [g/m²] per bag [g] content [%] Outer support layers 25 4.2 100 Meltblown 15 2.5 0 Meltblown 15 2.5 0 Middle support layer 17 2.9 100 Capacity layer A 35 5.9 100 Capacity layer D 35 5.9 80 Inner support layer 15 2.5 100 Retaining plate 5.0 0 Total filter bag 31.4 64.3

The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to Example 2 is constructed in the same way as the vacuum cleaner filter bag according to Example 1. The outer capacity layer corresponds to a capacity layer according to Examples 6 to 8, i.e. a carded staple fiber nonwoven fabric consisting of 100% recycled PET fibers. The recycled content of a finished vacuum cleaner filter bag is 64.3 wt. %.

EXAMPLE 3

Grammage Weight Recyclate [g/m2] per bag [g] content [%] Outer support layers 25 4.2 100 Meltblown 15 2.5 0 Meltblown 15 2.5 0 Middle support layer 17 2.9 100 Capacity layer C 35 5.9 80 Capacity layer D 35 5.9 80 Inner support layer 15 2.5 100 Retaining plate 5.0 100 Total filter bag 31.4 76.4

The vacuum cleaner filter bag in Example 3 corresponds to a vacuum cleaner filter bag in Example 1, with the difference that the retaining plate is made of 100% rPET. The total amount of recycled materials in this vacuum cleaner filter bag is 76.4 wt. %.

EXAMPLE 4

Grammage Weight Recyclate [g/m2] per bag [g] content [%] Outer support layers 25 4.2 100 Meltblown 15 2.5 80 Meltblown 15 2.5 80 Middle support layer 17 2.9 100 Capacity layer C 35 5.9 80 Capacity layer D 35 5.9 80 Inner support layer 15 2.5 100 Retaining plate 5.0 100 Total filter bag 31.4 89.3

The vacuum cleaner filter bag in Example 4 corresponds to the vacuum cleaner filter bag in Example 3, with the difference that the two fine filter layers are made of a bicomponent meltblown nonwoven fabric with a core made of rPET and a sheath of polypropylene. The recyclate content of such a vacuum cleaner filter bag is 89.3 wt. %. 

1. A method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag, comprising: forming a nonwoven fabric, which, comprises powdery or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing or from wool shearing, or comprises seed fibers; forming an air-permeable material comprising at least one layer of the nonwoven fabric; and forming a vacuum cleaner filter bag having an interior-enclosing wall made of the air-permeable material and having an inlet opening introduced into the wall.
 2. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the powdery or fibrous recycled material is cotton dust, or the seed fibers are cotton linters or kapok fibers.
 3. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the nonwoven fabric layer comprises powdery or fibrous recycled material comprising up to 95 wt. % of the powdery or fibrous recycled material and at least 5 wt. % of bonding fibers, or wherein the nonwoven fabric layer comprises seed fibers comprising up to 95 wt. % of the seed fibers and at least 5 wt. % of bonding fibers.
 4. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 3, wherein the bonding fibers have staple fibers with a length of 2 to 75 mm.
 5. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 3, wherein the bonding fibers comprise bicomponent fibers, wherein the bicomponent fibers comprise a core comprising a first thermoplastic material and a sheath comprising a second thermoplastic material which melts at lower temperatures than the first thermoplastic material, and wherein the core comprises or both the core and the sheath comprise one or more recycled plastics.
 6. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the air-permeable material is constructed in several layers, the air-permeable material having, in addition to the at least one layer of nonwoven fabric, at least one further layer comprising a nonwoven fabric or a fiber web, wherein at least one of the additional layers comprises one or more recycled plastics.
 7. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the air-permeable material comprises: at least one support layer and at least one capacity layer, wherein the at least one support layer is a nonwoven fabric, or wherein the at least one capacity layer is a nonwoven fabric or a fiber web, comprising one or more recycled plastics, or at least one fine filter layer, at least one capacity layer, and at least one optional support layer, wherein the at least one optional support layer or the at least one fine filter layer is a nonwoven fabric made of one or more recycled plastics, or wherein the at least one capacity layer is a nonwoven fabric or a fiber web, comprising one or more recycled plastics.
 8. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 7, wherein a) each support layer is a spunbond nonwoven fabric or scrim, b) the air-permeable material comprises 1 to 3 support layers, in case of at least two support layers, a total grammage of a sum of all the support layers is 10 to 240 g/m², or c) all support layers are made of one or more recycled plastics.
 9. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 7, wherein a) each fine filter layer is an extrusion nonwoven fabric, b) the air-permeable material comprises 1 to 5 fine filter layers, c) in case of at least two fine filter layers are present, an overall grammage of a sum of all fine filter layers are 10 to 300 g/m², d) the at least one fine filter layer is made of one or more recycled plastics, e) the at least one fine filter layer is electrostatically charged.
 10. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 7, wherein a) the at least one capacity layer is a nonwoven fabric comprising powdery or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing or from wool shearing, or comprising seed fibers, b) the air-permeable material comprises 1 to 5 capacity layers, or c) in case of two capacity layers are present, an overall grammage of a sum of all capacity layers is 10 to 300 g/m².
 11. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 7, wherein the air-permeable material is formed in several layers with a layer sequence seen from the interior of the vacuum cleaner filter bag: a support layer, at least one capacity layer, at least one fine filter layer, and a further support layer.
 12. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum cleaner filter bag has a retaining plate enclosing the inlet opening, and wherein the retaining plate comprises one or more recycled plastics.
 13. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein at least one flow distributor or at least one diffuser is arranged in an interior of the vacuum cleaner filter bag.
 14. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 6, wherein the recycled plastic is selected from the group consisting of recycled polyesters, recycled polyolefins, recycled polyvinyl chloride (rPVC), recycled polyamides, and mixtures and combinations thereof.
 15. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 2, wherein a weight proportion of all recycled materials or cotton linters relative to a total weight of the vacuum cleaner filter bag, is at least 25%.
 16. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum cleaner filter bag comprises a flat bag, a block bottom bag, or a 3D bag.
 17. (canceled)
 18. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 7, wherein at least one capacity layer comprises the nonwoven fabric.
 19. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 13, wherein the at least one flow distributor or the at least one diffuser is made of one or more recycled plastics, or a nonwoven fabric, wherein the nonwoven fabric comprises powdery or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing or wool shearing, or wherein the nonwoven fabric comprises seed fibers.
 20. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 19, wherein the nonwoven fabric comprising powdery or fibrous recycled material from textile manufacturing comprises cotton textiles.
 21. The method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 14, wherein the recycled polyesters are selected from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), recycled polybutylene terephthalate (rPBT), recycled polylactic acid (rPLA), recycled polyglycolide or recycled polycaprolactone; and wherein the recycled polyolefins are selected from recycled polypropylene (rPP), recycled polyethylene or recycled polystyrene (rPS). 